I was recently introduced to Tmart.com which is a website that sells pretty much EVERYTHING from electronics and small gadgets to tattoo kits and of course Tmart nail art decorations! At first I wasn’t sure how large the nail art selection would be since it is not Tmart’s primary focus, but I was pleasantly surprised by the selection, pricing and easy site navigation. I got the chance to review some very fun fimo nail art canes that I enjoyed using A LOT as demonstrated by the nail art shown here!

On the heels of the ever popular textured polishes comes a brand new 6 polish collection from China Glaze! We all love pastels in the spring, but who says we can’t wear them in Winter as well? The Crinkled Chrome collection combines the iciness and shimmer of winter with the femininity of a spring pastel and the edginess of a textured polish.

Winter is a time of shimmer and shine. Frost glistens on windows, lights twinkle in the night and decorations adorn doorways. This January, give your nails a shine all their own with Crinkled Chrome from China Glaze®. High-shine chrome meets wintery pastels in this crinkled metal look. Chrome takes on a feminine flair with China Glaze® Crinkled Chrome. Six gorgeous colours retain the sophisticated, polished appeal of the season, but add a contemporary edge and sense of novelty to winter nails.

Ermmm, for some reason the October edition of my Ipsy bag was forgotten in first the wedding hullabaloo of October and then November disappeared followed by “holy crap” it’s Christmas! I have a growing pile of subscription boxes that I just have not shared with you all so I hope I’ll be able to get them in before 2013 is out!

I’m sure everyone is enjoying a leisurely day at home as I am! The holidays have really taken it out of me! I wanted to squeeze in one last Christmas nail art before it didn’t make sense anymore! I followed the Christmas nail lights tutorial from One Nail to Rule Them All which was incredibly easy to follow. I started with two coats of OPI – My Boyfriend Scales Walls followed by one coat of China Glaze – Fairy Dust. I used a black striper for the “cord” and acrylic paint for the light bulbs.

Nobody ever said snowflakes had to be white, right? I had this odd compulsion to paint black snowflakes overtop China Glaze-This is Tree-mendous resulting in a snowflake tutorial over at The Prom Show! I basically wanted to replicate what I had done with my earlier snowflakes because I actually really enjoyed painting them! And at what other time of the year would I be allowed to draw snowflakes TWICE in one month?!

Oh, and if you haven’t picked up this polish, you HAVE to! It’s so glittery and green!

You guys know of my mad stamping skills that have yet to amount to anything more than a childlike attempt at what is supposed to be “art”, so when KKCenterHK offered me the opportunity to try soft stamping, I figured I didn’t have anything to lose because I am already pretty awful at it! I chose a super cute stamping plate with designs that I thought might come in handy in the future.

There are some nail art tutorials that you HAVE TO TRY right away when you see them and cutepolish’s Peppermint Swirl tutorial was one of them! I changed the design a little bit, but the technique is the same. I started off with two coats of OPI – My Boyfriend Scales Walls, followed by one coat of China Glaze-Fairy Dust. I then used my red Art Deco striper to draw the pinwheels and dotted the centers with more white polish. For the green bits, I used forest green acrylic paint as I could not find the right green amongst my many many polishes. I finished with a new top coat I’m trying by Witchcraft and ta-da!

I am so proud that my new FAVOURITE lip balms come from my home province of British Columbia! Epic Blend began in 2007 in Kelowna, BC with the goal of designing a high quality, premium lip balm that had both spunk and all-natural ingredients. All ingredients are petroleum and gluten-free, non-genetically modified and of course not tested on animals!

I am a total lip balm junkie with a lip balm in every location of the apartment and one even right in the shower so that I can have my lips moisturized right away! I am almost tingling with excitement to get to the end of this review because all I can say is that these are DA BOMB!

Nothing says festive like holiday nails which is why the ever awesome Kiss Nail Dress Holiday series is sure to delight and be the life of any Christmas party! When it comes to drugstore nail strips, Kiss always has a TON of designs to suit every personality and occasion. Today I’m going to try out the Kiss Nail Dress strips in the pattern “Mistletoe” which is awesomely bejewelled!

There was a Shoppers Drug Mart super redemption event about two weeks ago and I cannot believe it has taken me so long to share what I picked up with you all! Time is just flying and work has been long and very busy so forgive me for this and all future tardiness! I wasn’t going to redeem any points, but then I saw two things that my heart had always wanted…dear Mia and the most overpriced LED lamp I’ve ever seen.

I have a new indie polish love and it is Doctor Lacquer! This is a polish brand that jumped out at me because of wonderful thermal polishes in every collection especially my favourite one, Hormonal Efficiency! Hormones were always my favourite thing to learn about in school so to see polishes named after them was nothing short of amazing! I did get the entire collection, but since we’re in the middle of the holidays, I figured I’d show a Christmas polish first! This is Mistletoe the Line, which is a “cold-sensitive thermal crelly with a white base when warm, that turns mint green when cold. Mistletoe the Line has a delicate mix of festive holiday colors!”

I really had a hard time capturing my nails when this polish was fully green or fully white, but at least I got the green tips! This wasn’t exactly mint green for me and most of the time was not the most flattering colour on me, but it was incredibly festive and unique which garnered me many compliments asking about what polish I had on my nails. I believe Mistletoe the Line is now sold out so I feel badly showing this off to you guys, but maybe it’ll come back in stock if you ask nicely?

I spied this little treasure at London Drugs and it is just perfect for a nail polish lover or someone who loves to pamper herself! I didn’t know that Crabtree & Evelyn made nail polish until just this past summer when I was doing the nail art workshops at Metrotown so when I saw the Beautiful Hands Gift Set for $25 that included two polishes I jumped!

For gorgeously glossy nails and perfectly pampered hands, look no further. Our La Source hand and nail care essentials are together at last in a festive and vibrant botanical package.

Here is what you get inside:

Snowdrop Nail Lacquer

Petal Pink Nail Lacquer

La Source Hand Therapy (25g)

La Source Nail & Cuticle Therapy (15g)

Holiday Nail buffer

Purchasing each of these items individually would cost you $36, so you are almost receiving the polishes for free! For someone who just loves doing a classy French manicure, this is the perfect Christmas gift! I saw a couple of these sets at my London Drugs the other day or you can also go to your closest Crabtree & Evelyn store!

Those of you who are lovers of the The Shopping Channel and their beauty section may have seen the makeup line Eve Pearl, created by Eve Pearl, a 5 time Emmy Award winning celebrity Makeup Professional. Eve Pearl products were originally created for professionals, but fortunately, normal Jaynes like myself are now able to have access to the whole line!

I was recently given the opportunity to review the High Definition Creme Foundation and Smudgeproof Liquid Eyeliner, which I was interested to try as I had never tried any Eve Pearl products before. I will be doing two separate reviews – one for each product beginning with a review of the eyeliner!

This long lasting liner has a uniquely tapered brush for a precise smudge proof application. The highly pigmented formula offers all day wear with rich, luminous results.

This is a trick that may not be new to some of you, but whenever I mention the Elmer’s Glue Technique in regular conversation, I get somewhat confused expressions so maybe it’s still worth mentioning here! You use Elmer’s Glue as your base coat and then apply your glitter polish over top! I recently put together a short little post at The Prom Show on how to remove glitter polish in seriously 10 seconds! I even made a VIDEO on my new Youtube channel that currently just has this ONE video, but I think this is the start of something new! I still have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to YouTube, but I’m hoping I can figure it out!

Influenster has finally come to Canada! I’ve been a member of the Influenster community for about a year and half and first joined as I found the concept of measuring social media influence and being rewarded for it very interesting. It’s crazy to think that this type of community even exists now and my curiosity got the better of me and I had to join! Joining Influenster is FREE and every so often, a VoxBox gets released full of complimentary products based on Expert Badges that you have unlocked and the amount of “influence” you appear to have online. No member is guaranteed a Voxbox though, even with “good behaviour”.

I received my tracking information for the #MapleVoxBox a day AFTER I’d already received which is something I believe other bloggers experienced, but seeing that purple box with the recognizable “i” in a speech bubble sent me into spastic dance moves. I was so excited to see one addressed to me after seeing American bloggers receive them for so long!

Ice Breakers DUO in Raspberry

New Ice Breakers DUO combines sweet fruity taste with refreshing cooling crystals. Ice Breakers DUO is a two-sided mint with a fruity flavoured, textured side and a minty, smooth side that cools and freshens your breath. Also available in Strawberry.

Thoughts: Ummm, I LOVE THESE. I have the SOURS in my purse AND in my office PLUS two other flavours in my nightstand drawer as a just in case! They pretty refreshing, but what I actually buy them for is for helping with nausea whenever I have a headache which is quite often…the fruity tartness just makes me feel better and obviously tastes good!

Price: 36g/$1.99

NYC New York Color Big Bold Curl Mascara

Big Bold Curl Mascara’s oversized curved brush is the ultimate way to get outrageously thick and super sexy lashes. One stroke gives your lashes up to 12x more volume and 99% more lift.

Thoughts: Now that I can wear mascara, I am actually excited to try this out. I like chubby products so I’m already sold on the packaging. Weird, I know! I haven’t tried an NYC product since 2003 so let’s rekindle the love

Price: 12mL/$4.99

NYC New York Color Big Bold Plumping Lip Gloss

Big Bold Plumping Lip Gloss makes lips look up to 50% fuller with a high gloss shine that lasts up to 4 hours. The ultra soft mega applicator gives full and even coverage for beautiful, perfectly plump lips.

Thoughts: This lipgloss is actually very chubby as well and so I love it! It’s also a very neutral shimmery pink which will look lovely layered over a lipstick to give it a bit of “oomph”.

Price: 11mL/$4.99

Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-On Manicure

imPRESS Press-On Manicure by Broadway Nails is the revolutionary way to apply polish! Get a salon-perfect manicure in seconds! There’s no drying, a killer shine and a manicure that lasts up to a week!

Thoughts: I have reviewed these press on nails before and they were just too big for my nail beds! The wear and designs are amazing though so if you need some quick beautiful 10 second nails, just get these!

Price: 1 set/$8.99 – $10.99

Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spas Mask in Crushed Arctic Cloudberries

Join the revolution and start a new weekly skincare regime with the Clay Spas from Montagne Jeunesse. These natural bamboo fabric masks are infused with clay for a cleansing experience that is better, quicker and easier than ever before.

Thoughts: Ahh! Masks! I love these! I cannot wait to try this!

Price: 1 mask/$2.49

Not pictured are the two Skinny Cow items I received: the Milk Chocolate Dreamy Clusters (1 pack/$1.29) and the Milk Chocolate Flavour Heavenly Crisp (1 bar/$1.29)as they were just so amazingly good that I ate them up before I could take the pictures! I was super hungry at work and the #MapleVoxBox was RIGHT THERE!

Total Value of #MapleVoxBox: $26.03

Considering this is a complimentary box where shipping is FREE, the items I received were truly amazing! The #MapleVoxBox was a great inaugural VoxBox for us Canadians and I hope we start to qualify for more!

All products received complimentary from Influenster for review purposes.

November was another month where I chose not to go with the regular Topbox, but with one of the special edition ones. For November, I decided to try the “Estee Lauder” Topbox as I have not tried any skincare from this brand yet and the perfume also sounded like a scent I would enjoy!

There are certain inevitabilities when it comes to Christmas especially when it comes to nail art. There is no escaping the glitter polish, candy cane and of course the snowflakes manis! Let’s face it, this is the only time of the year when even having all three of those designs on your nails really makes sense AND feels right! For today’s nails, I started with three coats of Pretty & Polished – Bubbles ( I actually thought it would be more opaque and was going to wear it alone) and then hand painted snowflakes over top with acrylic paint using a small brush and a dotting tool.

When it comes to the holidays, I pretty much SEE in glitter. We are bombarded with it and when it comes to nails, glitter gradients are my comfort food (?). They’re fairly easy to do once you get the hang of it and from there the world is your glittery oyster. For those of you who are interested in learning how I do mine, I have done a complete tutorial over at The Prom Show!

I have been wanting to use glequins again ever since I used them for this scaly mani back in May. Apologies for the picture quality…that’s what I get for trying to get natural light at 7am on a cloudy day. The lightbox I ordered could not come any sooner! As my base, I used China Glaze – Mingle with Kringle and then using page reinforcement stickers to create my half moons, painted Pandora’s Polish – Fall Day over top. I then individually applied blue glequins from Born Pretty with a wax pencil and applied top coat.

The holidays are here which means that China Glaze has another amazing nail polish collection to excite and dazzle us with! Mingle with Kringle, Bells Will Be Blinging and So Blue Without You are three of the polishes from the Happy Holi-Glaze Collection and although we have seen these colours in some form or another over the seasons, I never get over the tongue-in-cheek nail polish names and of course the glitter polishes that I feel China Glaze does BEST!

Dash of Dazzle is a three piece nail polish set currently being sold by Nail Polish Canada for $15 which basically means you get one of these polishes for free if you were to buy them individually! There is also another set, Touch of Twinkle, if you’re more of a red polish gal!

Once again, the Loose Button Luxe Box has creeped up on me! I always forget about it because of its quarterly delivery, but the products inside are always so luxe that I get so excited when I know it’s coming! I didn’t think I’d enjoy the quarterly subscription, but I think the Luxe Box works MUCH better this way and the product selection is much more consistent than when I first signed up 2 years ago. For the Fall Luxe Box, I opted for the Shu Uemura upgrade for an extra $7 as I was just too curious about the Cleansing Oil Shampoo! The rest of the box was pretty good too so read on to find out more about it!

I missed out on an Estee Lauder nail polish collection last year and vowed that I would not repeat history this year so I couldn’t say no when I saw this four polish collection for $34 at Shoppers Drug Mart! The colours are beautiful and now that I realize I have become a true collector of nail polish, I knew I had to have an Estee Lauder bottle in my collection. I just thank God I don’t collect cars!

With the holidays comes glitter and shimmer in all forms and functions and Make Up For Ever has got some beautiful products for you or a loved one this holiday season!

MAKE UP FOR EVER is pleased to introduce the Midnight Holiday Collection... an assortment of products that will make any holiday outfit sparkle! The Midnight Glow palette is perfect for creating a variety of looks for the winter months with its pearly and dramatic colors, compliment it with the new limited edition Aqua Rouge Satin Soft Pink and some strass & glitters to be the star of your parties.

Reviews coming soon! Which product are you most looking forward to? I always love the MUFE palettes and glitters!

I have never done Movember nail art before and when I saw these multi-coloured moustache nail art studs on Born Pretty, I knew the time had finally come! Moustaches have suddenly become extremely popular over the last little while and I really had a hard time coming up with a design that was novel and hadn’t been done before. I can’t say that I came up with anything particularly creative, but it sure was fun to wear while it lasted!

I really wanted to use as many of the moustache colours as possible when I realized that Trelly’s Milk and Marshmallows went perfectly with my multi-coloured moustache mani! Say that three times fast!

Joanne is herself a science wonder woman and has the most entertaining and educational website especially when it comes to beauty products so definitely check out Joanne Loves Science! I am totally on Helium Cloud 9 right now! The article itself is quite interesting and makes me want to get more young girls interested in science and do more science nail art!

One thing I l always look forward to around the holidays is seeing how much more awesome Benefit Cosmetics packaging can get and this year I happened to spy quite the beauty of gift sets! There are a few versions of these Benefit sets, including smaller tins that instead of full sizes, have deluxe sized products of Benefit bestsellers, but all are bound to get the heart rate of any makeup lover racing! I purchased mine at Shoppers Drug Mart as it was 20x the points day and chose “Primed for Lovin” as I loved almost all of the products inside and knew I would use everything!

First of all, these collectible tins had me from the get go! All I could think of was how cute this would look on my dresser (filled with product of course)!

Included inside are FULL SIZED items of: The Porefessional, High Beam and They’re Real Mascara plus a mini of the SugarbombUltra Plush Lip Gloss. Can you believe that all of this retails at $109 and it’s currently selling for only $50?! If your Shoppers Drug Mart carries the Benefit Cosmetics line, I would wait until there is either a 20x or redemption event because it is an AMAZING value! Or if you just can’t wait to get this for yourself or a loved one, call your Beauty Boutique and put one on hold like NOW!

I am in love. I am positively swooning over Trelly’s M.I.S.C. Polish – Milk and Marshmallows today and I cannot get over how whimsical and fun this milky white, multi-coloured glitter is! I bought this polish as part of the Lucky Charms Duo and had to have them as I owned no polishes like them! I love the heart and star glitter and of course the circle glitter! I know I’m not the only one who is thinking of Lucky Charms when I see this polish! In terms of application, it was a little bit thicker in consistency, but still very easy to work with. I’m wearing three coats for full opacity. I have more pictures than usual because I just couldn’t decide which picture was best so I thought I’d share them all with you!

There are days when you just want to use glitter “straight up” and this mani is exactly that. I started off with two coats of Nicole by OPI-Spring Break, an absolutely beautiful stunningly bright blue based pink, from the Selena Gomez collection.

I followed with two coats of Nicole by OPI – She’s Lily Something, from the Modern Family collection which was a bit of a hassle to apply as the stars were all the way at the bottom of the bottle. I ended up having to dump out the polish onto some paper and go glitter fishing. I was too lazy to apply the stars by hand leading to the look seen below.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to keep it simple?